Atherosclerosis in mice: getting to the heart of a polygenic disorder

The mouse is being increasingly used as a model system for understanding the common and complex polygenic condition of atherosclerosis. Mice have been created in which genes involved in this condition have been overexpressed or have been altered by gene targeting. Here, we concentrate on recent experiments that use transgenic and gene knockout mice as an in vivo assay system to unravel the interactions between various genes involved in atherogenesis. We focus in particular on examples in which unique insights into the human condition have been derived from studies in mice.